Six Senses Hideaway Samui - Koh Samui: Nestled amid 20 acres of natural vegetation on the northern tip of Samui Island, overlooking the Gulf of Siam sits the Six Senses Hideaway (a Sala Property). Inspired by a Thai fishing village, the Six Senses Samui offers panoramic sea views and most of the sixty-six suites and villas have private pools. With a description like this we just had to visit and review the Six Senses Hideaway in Koh Samui. We checked their website and booked us a short stay at the Six Senses Samui.

First Impression/Lobby: On arrival, we were promptly greeted and escorted to the lobby that was an oversized open air villa with a striking view of the sea below. The thatched-hut like lobby did feel a tad too barren for my liking but I think it just played along with the entire back to nature feel that the resort exuded.

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Reception: Our experience at the reception was exactly what one expects from a five star resort; welcoming, efficient, professional and hassle free. The staff pulled out the typical welcome gestures to ensure that we were made to feel welcome. Some refreshing cool towels were offered to us along with a rejuvenating drink, before we were ushered into our villa.

The Suite: We had the opportunity to try two different villas at the Six Senses Koh Samui. The first was a compact and slick one-bedroom Pool Villa and the second one was a tastefully done up Presidential Two-Bedroom Villa. They both preened over the side of a mammoth cliff that offered a gorgeous view of the sea. The villas featured nice warm toned wooden flooring along with lofty ceilings and expansive windows that offered a breathtaking view of the Gulf of Siam. The linens were typical high standard stuff that you regularly find at five-star resorts in Koh Samui and all around the world.

The pool villa had a petite plunge pool and the presidential villa had a super sized pool. Both the rooms though had plenty of open space for lazy lounging, relaxing and dining. A major difference between the two villas, apart from the pool size was that the presidential villa featured a cozy second bedroom at the far end of the property, awarding it a nice privacy. There was also a large enclosed living room, again blissfully detached from both the rooms, which made it an ideal accommodation option for couples and families. All rooms were impeccably lit with plenty of natural light streaming in through the massive windows.

The villa came with the trimmings of an efficient private butler who was there to unpack and pack for us as well as get the bath ready when we needed it. He was our personal contact for anything that we needed. While the butler did a fabulous job in some service areas, his organization skills were conspicuously lacking in other activities.

Room Service: Room Service was good overall. They took new orders accurately and did a fair job of setting it up. The food however was notches below my expectation and for the price that it came at, I definitely expect better tasting fare. It was mediocre at best.

In addition to our normal breakfast and lunch orders, we arranged for a private dinner in the evening at the villa, which is something that we have done at numerous five-star resorts all over the world. We requested for the meal to be served in courses and even this is something that we have enjoyed several times at many other properties. The dinner turned out to be an absolute fiasco and the staff didn’t seem to get anything right that evening. From setting up the table to the timing of presentation for the multiple courses, everything was completely out of sync. I fail to understand why having dinner served in courses in your own villa can be so convoluted. They did a fine job of ruining the entire experience by their lackluster performance.

Housekeeping: The housekeeping department did a good job of servicing the room during the day. However come evening and their enthusiasm seemed to wane by the hour. They were consistently inconsistent in putting the mosquito net over the bed and leaving bottled water in the room at night. Some nights they did it, other nights they just didn’t seem to care.

Concierge: The concierge services were handled by the front desk. We had them arrange a dinner at Prego (Read our review of Prego Italian Restaurant - Koh Samui), an Italian restaurant in the heart of the town. We also asked for a car transfer for the dinner but for some unknown reason they didn’t seem very keen on giving it to us and we ended up being almost half an hour late for dinner. We also assigned them the task of arranging a boat tour for us and though this cannot be attributed to the inefficiency of the concierge-the boat was far from impressive. I wasn’t really pleased with the service the concierge provided and arranging for the boat tour seemed like a gigantic task for them to achieve.

Restaurant: We ate at the restaurant only once and found it difficult to justify our decision to do so, since our room offered more captivating vistas than the restaurant. Nonetheless we decided to give it a fair chance. The breakfast was regular, run of the mill stuff, nothing to write home about.

For our private dinner that was catered at the villa we had ordered from their award winning restaurant Dining on the Rocks, which was supposed to be terrific from what I had read. It turned out to be average (this term has come to become our private buzzword for Six Senses Koh Samui).

Pool/Spa/Activities: Because our villas were so private and offered everything we really wanted; sun, privacy, amazing views and a pool, we didn’t go out of the way to try any leisure activities other than renting a boat for a day. Six Senses did feature an inviting central swimming pool and a state of the art spa along with a bunch of frills from specially organized island tours and snorkeling excursions to a well-equipped water sports center. Their beach though was less than inviting (another reason we stayed close to our villa).

Overall Impression The overall impression is a tug of war between our expectations and experience at the Six Senses. We went there with extremely high expectations, but left feeling quite disappointed and let down from our experience there.

While the property itself is poetically beautiful with drop-dead gorgeous views, the service was not just up to the ranks of a luxury five-star resort. One expects a certain set of paradigms from exclusive five-star properties and they were simply missing at this much-hyped holiday retreat. This is not a place we are likely to visit again. With a burgeoning number of new five-star properties and luxury resorts in Koh Samui, there are many other options for a bombastic stay in town. If none of the new places qualify for a bombastic rating, Four Seasons rules all the way (Click here to read our hotel review of Four Seasons Samui). Our rating for Six Senses Hideaway Koh Samui is between bombastic and not.

What we liked: The well-designed villas, the overall premises of the property and the lovely view from the villa

What we didn’t Like: The uninspiring service and the far from extraordinary food.

Rating: Between Bombastic and Not

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